Franzen scores five times for Wings

Wings defeat Sens 7-5

The Detroit Red Wings celebrate their team's fourth goal against the Ottawa Senators during second period play at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. The Red Wings defeated the Senators 7-5. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators scores on Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings during first period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Alex Kovalev from the Ottawa Senators celebrates his goal against the Detroit Red Wings during first period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Robin Lehner from the Ottawa Senators cant control the rebound from Detroit Red Wing Johan Franzen during first period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Robin Lehner from the Ottawa Senators cant control the rebound from Detroit Red Wing Johan Franzen during first period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Jimmy Howard from the Detroit Red Wings could not stop a shot from Ottawa Senator Chris Campoli during first period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Ottawa Senator Chris Campoli celebrates his first period goal against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Ottawa Senator Chris Campoli celebrates his first period goal against the Detroit Red Wings with his teammates Mike Fisher and Daniel Alfredsson at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Kris Draper from the Detroit Red Wings celebrates his second period goal against Robin Lehner, from the Ottawa Senators, at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Robin Lehner, from the Ottawa Senators, was pulled after he let in a fourth goal against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Robin Lehner, from the Ottawa Senators, was pulled after he let in a fourth goal against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

The Detroit Red Wings celebrate their team's fourth goal against the Ottawa Senators during second period play at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Brian Elliott, from the Ottawa Senators, makes a save against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Mike Fisher from the Ottawa Senators trips Valtteri Filppula from the Detroit Red Wings during second period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Brian Elliott, from the Ottawa Senators, makes a save with his mask against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Brian Elliott, from the Ottawa Senators, makes a save against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Ottawa Senator Chris Neil jammed the puck past the goal line but the ref called it back during the last few minutes of the game against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. The Red Wings defeated the Senators 7-5. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Ottawa Senator Daniel Alfredsson during third period action against the Red Wings at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

Ottawa Senator Erik Karlsson gets hit against the boards in the third period by Detroit Red Wing Darren Helm at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Wednesday February 2, 2011. TONY CALDWELL/OTTAWA SUN

In the Senators' case Wednesday night, the kicks were delivered by Johan "The Mule" Franzen and the officiating.

Franzen scored five times in a wild 7-5 Red Wings victory over the Senators at Scotiabank Place. The refs called off a Chris Neil goal that would have tied the game 6-6 late in the third period.

With 7:38 remaining, Neil thought he had tied the game, but it was ruled Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard had frozen the puck.

"The puck is still loose and I'm able to whack it in," Neil said after Ottawa's eight defeat in a row - its longest losing streak since 1995-96. "It goes under him. It should have been a goal. I shovelled it right under him. It's not like the puck was covered.

"It's frustrating. We're trying to win some games here."

Senators coach Cory Clouston was frustrated, too.

"We tied it up. (Howard) never had it covered. It's pretty obvious on the replay he didn't have it covered. It clearly crossed the line. It's very frustrating for our guys. They did a lot of good things out there."

Clouston's decision to pull rookie goalie Robin Lehner in favour of the struggling Brian Elliot wasn't a good thing.

While Lehner allowed four goals before getting the hook, Elliott didn't look good on the two goals he allowed as he suffered his 12th straight loss.

Clouston said he wanted to change the flow of the game when Lehner was pulled.

"I wanted to create some momentum for us," said Clouston. "(Lehner's) a young guy and we wanted to make sure we were protecting him as well. We got the goal we wanted, we got the momentum back on our side.

"He's a confident guy. He's all right. I'd much rather do that than have him in there and give up two or three more goals. It wasn't based on anything other than to break up momentum."

On the plus side, Alex Kovalev, Chris Campoli and Peter Regin had three-point efforts, while Milan Michalek scored twice for the Senators.

Niklas Kronwall and Kris Draper also scored for the Wings, who didn't get a stellar effort from Howard.

Franzen's fourth goal and game-winner came at 7:10 of the third with Detroit holding a two-man advantage.

Kovalev's second goal of the game through Howard's legs 59 seconds into the third tied it up 5-5 only moments after Franzen completed his hat trick by beating Elliott on the stick side on the power play.

"We've been (off) for a week and they played (Tuesday). We knew they were going to come out quick," said Franzen.

The fans let know Clouston know what they thought of his decision to yank Lehner in favour of Elliott after the former allowed four goals on 19 shots in the second.

After Lehner made 31 saves in a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils Tuesday, Clouston didn't waste any time giving the youngster a second straight start and then didn't waste any time making a change.

Clouston's decision to pull Lehner was booed loudly as Elliott skated to the net after the Wings pulled out to a 4-3 lead on Kronwall's goal at 10:49, the second Lehner allowed in a span of 13 seconds.

Lehner deflected blame from his coach.

"Sometimes you need to pull goalies. I didn't do the job," said Lehner. "Our guys deserved a lot better. I'm disappointed I couldn't be the guy. If you get pulled, you have to be on the same page as the team.

"I just tried to be as positive as possible on the bench. I thought Cory made right the decision and I should have played better."

For Campoli and Regin, their goals ended scoring slumps that were 43 and 31 games, respectively.

Campoli said it was a tough way to lose.

"We've struggled to score goals this year for the most part and when you get five, you're confident you can win the game," said Campoli.

The Senators are off until Saturday, when they travel to New York to face the Islanders in the first of a four-game road trip.